It’s Time to Rethink Private Lessons for Young Baseball and Softball Athletes

Why the Way We Train Our Kids Needs to Change—Now

Parents of young athletes: if you’ve been investing your time and money into private lessons at local baseball or softball facilities across Long Island, this message is for you.

Let’s talk about what’s really going on—and why our kids deserve better.

⚠️ The Problem: Empty Reps and Cookie-Cutter Training

Right now, most training facilities are offering private lessons that look something like this:

  • 30 minutes of tee work and soft toss for hitters

  • Light catch and a few bullpen throws for pitchers

  • Very little correction, instruction, or feedback

  • No goal-setting, no performance tracking, no teaching the why

The result? Athletes of all ages and levels—from brand new rec players to experienced travel ball kids—are being given the same exact lesson structure. That’s not just ineffective, it’s damaging.

These are empty reps.

And we wonder why development stalls or bad habits form…

🎯 What Private Lessons Should Be

If you’re going to pay for private instruction, your athlete should get:

  • ✅ Individualized mechanical feedback

  • ✅ Clear goals, plans, and progressions

  • ✅ Guidance on athletic development

  • ✅ Situational coaching and mental training

  • ✅ A professional instructor who understands how to teach your child at their level

Whether it’s hitting, pitching, fielding, or catching, a lesson should not look the same for every kid. Teaching isn’t one-size-fits-all—and yet too many facilities are treating young athletes like just another client on the schedule.

💡 What Needs to Change

Youth athletes need more than a warm-up and some front toss. They need a plan. And more importantly, they need to be taught how to train—not just how to swing a bat or throw a ball.

Here’s what elite development looks like:

  • 🔁 Deliberate reps, not just volume

  • 🧠 Teaching athletes to understand their own mechanics

  • 📈 Using data to set milestones and track growth

  • 🗣 Encouraging in-game thinking and confidence

  • 🏋️‍♂️ Blending skill work with athletic training

🚫 Stop Treating Kids Like a Commodity

Some places just teach “enough” to keep a kid coming back for four years. That’s not coaching—that’s business.

We have a responsibility to do better.

We need to stop measuring a good lesson by how many balls they hit and start measuring it by what the athlete learned, what was improved, and what the next step is.

💬 From the Podcast: A Real Conversation for Real Change

In this episode of Raising Athletes, I break down:

  • The major gaps in today’s lesson culture

  • What every parent should be asking before they spend another dime

  • The red flags to watch out for in lessons and training facilities

  • What true athlete development really looks like

  • How we can raise the standard for baseball and softball in our communities

🎧 Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube
📺 WATCH ON YOUTUBE

🧭 Final Thought for Parents

If your athlete is doing the same drills at age 9 as they are at 14… something is wrong. And if your lesson leaves them without clarity or confidence, it’s time to rethink where you’re training.

Your kids don’t need just reps. They need the right reps, with the right teacher, at the right time in their journey.

Let’s raise athletes—not clients.

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